New Beginning
by ImaginaryGhosts
Summary: Horatio is still upset about losing his wife, Marisol. But when a new criminalist is accepted to work at Miami Dade, his emotions go hay-wire as he is not the only one attracted to her.
1. New Beginning

Chapter One: A New Beginning

Horatio/Amanda (OC)

Horatio was still grieving, recovering from the loss of his wife, Marisol. He spent more time than usual at work, trying to keep his mind occupied. The longer amounts of time he spent at work, the more worried his co-workers became. They noticed the dark lines under his eyes, and how sick he actually looked. Ryan and Calleigh cornered him at work one day and sat him down. "Horatio, no offense but you look terrible. You need to take some time off." She said firmly. Horatio looked at her, then at Ryan.  
"I can't. I have to keep working, it distracts me." Horatio told them, looking down at the ground. Calleigh sat down beside him and put a comforting arm around him.  
"H, you can't just keep overworking yourself. It's not good for your health." Ryan noted, sitting himself on the table across from his two co-workers/friends. "You have to take some time off, whether you like it or not." Horatio looked into their eyes and nodded.  
"Alright, I'll take tomorrow off. But that's it. We have a new criminalist starting on Monday." Calleigh regarded this with an approving nod, and then stood up.  
"Fine, but make sure you relax tomorrow. And if I dare catch you here…" she started, but Horatio cut her off.  
"I'd better not let my guard down." He said with a grin. Ryan smirked and stood up. He and Calleigh left Horatio to his thoughts, which seemed to drift back to Marisol. Sighing, Horatio got up from the chair he'd been forced into and departed from the room, thinking about what he'd like to do on his day off.

After his day off, Horatio felt fully rested and ready to go back and face the challenges of his job. As he arrived at work, he realized today was the day that a new member would be joining the CSI Miami crime lab. Lost in his thoughts, he almost ran into Natalia, who was heading towards the DNA lab. "Sorry Ms. Boa Vista," Horatio said "I should really stop consuming myself in thoughts while I'm at work." Natalia smiled, and looked up at him.  
"It's fine, H. I'm just going to analyze the substance that was found at the hit and run. Eric thinks it might be cocaine, but I'd better check before we draw any conclusions." She said, tucking a loose stand of hair behind her ear.  
"Let me know when you get the results." He said, continuing past her. He heard her footsteps go down the hall, and he turned into the lab where Eric was standing. "Eric, how're you holding up?" he asked, cocking his head to one side. Eric looked up from the piece of fabric he was examining.  
"Better than I was. How about you?" he replied, leaning against the desk.  
"About the same. I hear you're the other CSI that's been assigned to show the new criminalist around." Horatio stood in his usual stance, hands on his hips. Eric nodded.  
"Yeah, I hear she's pretty good at what she does. She went to university with one of my friends. He said she was top at everything." Eric gave Horatio a calculating look, then added quietly, "She's really beautiful." Horatio chuckled and Eric blushed slightly.  
"Well, let's go downstairs and check to see if she's arrived alright or not." He suggested, turning to head out the door. Eric put the fabric back into its protective bag and followed him.

As they arrived downstairs, they saw Calleigh chatting with a young woman near the doors. The two women were laughing and getting along quite well. Horatio smiled slightly, and then walked over to where they stood, Eric still following closely behind him. "Hello, you must be our new criminalist. My name's Horatio Caine." He said, extending his hand. She smiled and shook his hand.  
"Hi, I'm Amanda Harris." She replied, her voice sweet yet somehow exotic sounding at the same time. "You must be Eric. Stephen talks about you quite a bit." She said to Eric, now turning her hand towards him. He shook it enthusiastically.  
"Yeah, I'm Eric. Eric Delko. H and I will be the ones showing you around today. Hope that's alright." He grinned at her. She smiled sexily, looking from Eric to Horatio.  
"That would be just fine." She stated, then turned back to finish up her conversation with Calleigh. Horatio took this time to absorb her beauty. '_Eric was right, she is beautiful'. _Horatio thought to himself. Amanda's long black hair was mostly straight, yet somewhat wavy at the same time. Her eyes were a piercing shade of dark blue. Her skin was light, but her arms and face were a bit tanned from the sun. Horatio guessed her height was about 5'7, and she had a slender, muscular build. Horatio glanced over at Eric, and noticed that he too, was taking in her extremely good looks. Amanda must have seen what the two men were doing, and she giggled. The noise awoke Eric and Horatio from their trains of thought, and both of them blushed.  
"Calleigh's going to show me around, because she seems to be able to get over how sexy I am." Amanda teased. Calleigh laughed and Eric blushed a deeper shade of red. Horatio grinned sheepishly and looked away. "I'll see you sexy boys later." She said with a wink, and the two women left, laughing and talking.  
"We really screwed up that one, eh?" Horatio laughed. Eric joined in with his laughter and nodded.  
"Yeah, we definitely did. Didn't seem like she minded though, the fact that we were checking her out like a dog checks out a piece of meat." Eric said between bursts of laughter. Horatio pointed at Eric's mouth and smirked.  
"Complete with drool and everything, too." He added, grinning. Eric wiped his mouth, horrified.  
"Ah man, could've told me that before." He whined in such a fake voice that they started laughing all over again. At this point, Horatio realized this was the first time he'd had a good laugh in a long time. _Since before Marisol died, at least._ He thought. Eric seemed to have noticed the same thing, and both men calmed down. "Guess we should go back to work." He gestured towards the elevator. Horatio nodded.  
"I'll be upstairs in a few minutes, see you in the lunch room." Eric shrugged and got into the elevator, pushing the 3rd floor button. This left Horatio to think about Marisol, but also about feelings he may develop for Amanda. '_This isn't going to be good. Eric's attracted to her, and I seem to be as well. What hell is going to break loose if one of us dates her?'_


	2. Betrayal

Horatio/Amanda (OC)

Horatio looked outside of the window in his office and sighed. He had been thinking about Amanda, the way she laughed and smiled, the way she walked and the way she spoke to him. He was going out of his mind, wondering if she had any feelings for him. It had been about a week since she had begun working at Miami Dade, and Horatio could feel his attraction to her growing. He had no idea what her feelings were though, towards him or anyone else. As he decided to turn back to his work, he noticed that there was another person in the room as their shadow was casting over his desk. It was Amanda.  
"Hey H, how's it going?" she inquired, sitting down on the edge of his desk. He smiled and looked into her pretty blue eyes.  
"Alright, I suppose. But I'm not really getting anywhere with this case." He replied, gesturing towards the papers in front of him. "There are components that just don't seem to add up."  
"Maybe you're just distracted, and they add up perfectly. Here, let me see." She said, picking up the file and glancing over it. They sat in silence for a few minutes as she read over all of the information. "Everything adds up perfectly. You're distracted." She grinned at him. Horatio smiled and nodded. Both of them stood up and walked over towards the window, basking in the glow of the beautiful sun.  
"Ok, maybe a little." He admitted. Amanda leaned in closer to him, making him blush.  
"What's distracting you, Horatio?" Her tone was amused, like she knew the answer, but just wanted to hear him say it.  
"It's…..someone." He replied, grinning slyly. Amanda frowned, but moved in closer. Their bodies were touching ever so slightly, but it was enough to make Horatio hope she wouldn't notice he was getting a little…excited.  
"Do I know her?" She demanded, and he could smell her peppermint gum.  
"You might. You may even know her better than I do." He attempted to look out of the window, but Amanda grabbed his chin gently and turned his face back to hers, gazing into his eyes.  
"There's only one person here I know better than you do, and that's me." Amanda stated quietly, laying a hand on his arm.  
"Ah yes, that's right. And you're right." He said blushingly. Amanda pulled him into such a tight embrace that he momentarily lost the ability to breathe.  
"Good. Let's go out for drinks tonight, it's on me." She whispered in his ear. Horatio also seemed to have lost the ability to speak, so he just nodded. Amanda smiled sexily and turned to leave the room. As she got to the door, she called over her shoulder "Right when we're done work." Horatio smiled, watching her walk down the hall. He suddenly wondered what Eric was going to think when he found out that he and Amanda were going out for what seemed like 'more-than-friendly' drinks.

Horatio found Eric in their staff room, watching the news on the small TV. Eric looked up and smiled. "Hey H!" he said happily. Horatio felt guilty, tarnished.  
"Hello Eric, I…uhm…need to tell you something. I hope you won't be too mad at me." Horatio leaned against the door, just in case Eric got angry enough to hit him and he had to leave in an instant. Eric gave him a concerned look, but gestured that Horatio should continue talking. "I'm kind of…going out later with...Amanda. She asked me." He told Eric slowly, trying to see his reaction. Eric's face fell and he stood up.  
"How could you? I can't believe you, Horatio. First you marry my sister, and then when she's out of the way, you date a co-worker who I also happen to like. You are a bastard, a cold heartless BASTARD!" Eric screamed the last word loudly and Horatio looked away. _This is not going well, at all. I think I just ended our friendship. _Horatio thought to himself sadly.  
"Eric, I'm sorry. There's nothing else I can say." He apologized, hoping Eric wouldn't hit him too hard. Eric glared at him then looked away.  
"Sometimes sorry just isn't enough, H. Actions speak louder than words, and your actions just told me what kind of person you really are." Eric's words were like venom, stinging Horatio deep. Deciding he'd done all could do, Horatio turned around and left the room, feeling the same way he had when Marisol died. Cold, Sad, Angry and Lost. He had betrayed a friend, and he felt absolutely awful.


	3. Revelations

Horatio/Amanda (OC)

Although Horatio was extremely upset about how things had gone with Eric, the prospect of going out later with Amanda made him smile. He couldn't believe it, actually. At the end of their working day, Horatio walked along to Amanda's section of the lab. He noticed her bent over a microscope, though he was unsure as to what she would be examining. She had no current cases that she was working on. He entered the room quietly and watched her work. She was precise and careful, like he thought she would be. His thoughts soon drifted to…other things she might be precise and careful at. Blushing at the thought, he shook his head and spoke. "Still working, I see." He said, making her jump.  
"Holy shit, Horatio. You scared me half to death." She panted, clutching her chest. He grinned.  
"Sorry, but I didn't want to disturb you. You looked really into whatever you were doing." He stated. Amanda smiled and pulled her hair back into a ponytail before speaking.  
"I was. Let me just put this stuff away, then we can go." As she began packing up what she had been doing, she noticed Horatio looked a little distant. "Is something wrong?" She asked him in a concerned voice. He looked at her, then out of the door. He nodded. He told her the story of what had happened earlier. Amanda put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him in close to her. "It'll be ok, H." She soothed.  
"Eric hates me." Horatio muttered under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear. They gathered up their stuff and left the building, heading for Horatio's hummer. Both of them were silent as he drove them out of the parking lot, and then Amanda spoke broke the silence.  
"This is my entire fault." She whispered, mostly to herself. Horatio shook his head.  
"No, it's my fault. I just HAD to go and develop feelings for you, knowing Eric would do the same." He responded quickly, and then realized what he had actually said.  
"He has Calleigh. She's always cared about him and she always will. I can sense he has some feelings for her too." She divulged quietly. "But don't mention to Calleigh that I told you that."  
Horatio laughed.  
"Ok, I won't mention it." He promised her as they pulled up into the bar's parking lot.

"Where are we?" Amanda asked him, sitting down on a bar stool near the door. He sat next to her and smiled mysteriously.  
"The Nano Bar, best place for drinks in all of North America." He replied, ordering up two drinks that Amanda didn't recognize. When their drinks arrived, she tasted hers very cautiously. It was the best thing that she'd ever tasted. She and Horatio sat at the bar for hours, talking and ordering more of the drink Amanda loved so much. They talked about their past, their home lives, school life and past relationships. Horatio discovered Amanda had a bit of a dark side, as she admitted to him that she had done drugs during her high school years, because her home life had been so awful, that she used drugs to get away from it. Horatio understood. His father had killed his mother, which affected him greatly. He also found out that Amanda could handle her booze quite well. A few hours later, Amanda turned to him and leaned in closely.  
"I want you to know this now," she started, "If I happen to do anything a little…well sexual, it's not because I'm drunk." She winked at him, and he blushed a deep shade of red. "You know, it's getting a little stuffy in here." She declared to him, ignoring his embarrassment.  
"Well, I have a penthouse a few blocks away from here…" His sentence drifted off. Amanda stood up and grabbed his hand, interlocking her fingers with his and pulling him up too.  
"Your place it is, then." She whispered sexily in his ear.

A couple of blocks later, Amanda was leaning up against the wall next to the front door of Horatio's place, waiting for him to unlock it. He fumbled with the key, and then turned it in the lock. Pushing the door open, he gestured for Amanda to go through first. She went in and he followed after her. Just as he turned around after shutting the door, Amanda had him pinned to the door. Her left arm around his shoulders, her right around his waist and her left leg pinning his legs in place. He had to admit, this was pretty hot. Even when she was drunk, she was a take charge kind of girl. She leaned in and pressed her lips on his. Horatio blinked, then closed his eyes, placing a hand on the back of her hair and his other hand on the small of her back. They kissed passionately, making Horatio wish for more. Slowly, they moved towards the couch and Amanda lay down, bringing Horatio down on top of her. She began unbuttoning his shirt, and he assisted her by take his arms out of it. She then began taking off her own shirt, and Horatio realized they should stop. Carefully, he laid his hand down on top of hers and looked into her eyes. "We should finish this when we're sober." He told her. "I know I'll definitely enjoy it more then." Amanda nodded, and re-buttoned her shirt.  
"Ok, I probably will too. Can you drive me home, then? We both have to be up early tomorrow." She asked him, sliding out from under him and standing up.  
"Sure." He replied, also getting up. He could tell by her tone that she was a little peeved, but he had to do the right thing. No matter how much he wanted this, he would not take advantage of her while she was intoxicated. As they drove to Amanda's, neither of them spoke. When they arrived, Amanda turned to him and smiled.  
"Thanks, for you know, everything." She said happily. Horatio leaned over and kissed her gently. After they broke apart, Horatio spoke.  
"No, thank you. For showing me that everything WILL be alright again." He said, and then kissed her again.


End file.
